Gro Hammerseng-Edin (born 10 April 1980 in

Gjøvik is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Bybrua, and Hunndalen. The ...

as Gro Hammerseng) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

former handballer who last played for the club

Larvik HK Larvik Håndballklubb, is a women's handball club from Larvik, Norway. History Larvik HK was founded in 1990 as a merger of the handball departments in the two clubs Larvik Turn and Halsen. They played in the top division since 1992/93. During ...

. She was captain of the Norwegian national team for several years, and in 2007 she was voted female World Handball Player of the Year.

Club career

Hammerseng started her handball career in 1990 at Gjøvik HK (1990–1995). She later played one year for Raufoss IL (1995–1996) and one year for Vardal IF (1996–1997) before starting her senior career in 1997 for Gjøvik og Vardal HK (1997–2003). Hammerseng was Gjøvik og Vardal's captain during her six seasons with the club. In 2003, after serious economic problems at her hometown club, Hammerseng signed with Danish top club Ikast-Bording, since November 2008 called

FC Midtjylland Håndbold FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

. Gro stayed 7 years in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

playing for the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

club

, but on 17 February 2010 she signed under a 2-year contract with the

handball club

. Gro has played for Larvik since the 2010/11 season and ended her career after the 2016/2017 season. Hammerseng-Edin retired from the sport of handball on 21 May 2017, after winning the Grundigligaen finals with Larvik that day.

National team

Hammerseng made her debut with the Norwegian national team on 29 November 2000 against Poland in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, Norway. Her first major tournament was the 2000 European Championship in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, where Norway finished sixth. She received a silver medal at the 2001 World Championship and at the 2002 European Championship. In December 2003, coach

Marit Breivik Marit Breivik (born 10 April 1955) is a former Norwegian team handball player, and former head coach for the Norway women's national handball team. As coach, she has led the team to victory in the 2008 Olympic tournament, the World Women's Handb ...

made Hammerseng captain of the team, replacing fellow

native

Else-Marthe Sørlie Lybekk Else-Marthe Sørlie Lybekk (née Sørlie; born 11 September 1978, in Gjøvik) is a retired Norwegian team handball player, world champion from 1999, gold medalist from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and bronze medalist from the 2000 Olymp ...

. The 2003 World Championship was her first competition as captain, but Norway was not successful and finished the championship in sixth place, thus missing the opportunity to participate in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. The 2004 European Championship brought her first gold medal with the team. Hammerseng saw her performance recognized as she was voted

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and member of the All-Star Team of the tournament. After a serious knee injury kept her out of the court in the 2005/06 season, Gro Hammerseng repeated her 2004 success at the 2006 European Championship in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. She received her second gold medal and was again named MVP and member of the All-Star Team of the tournament. At the 2007 World Championship, Norway was defeated by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in the final match, marking the third silver medal for Hammerseng. She was voted into the All-Star Team as best left back. The

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

gave the Norwegians an opportunity for revenge, as they met Russia in the final match. After a comfortable 34–27 win, Hammerseng received her first Olympic gold medal. As of 22 December 2010, she has played 167 games for Norway, scoring 631 goals.

Awards and recognition

2004 * MVP - European Championship 2004 (Awarded in December 2004) * All-Star Team: European Championship 2004 - Best Playmaker - (Awarded in December 2004) 2005 * All-Star Team: Danish League 2004/05 - Best Playmaker - (Awarded in May 2005) 2006 * MVP - European Championship 2006 (Awarded in December 2006) * All-Star Team: European Championship 2006 - Best Playmaker - (Awarded in December 2006) * ‘Role model’ of the year, Norwegian Sports Gala (Awarded in January 2007) * ’Team Player’ of the year, Norwegian Sports Gala (Awarded in January 2007) 2007 * ‘Snill Pike Statuetten’ - Norwegian media photographers (Awarded in March 2007) * World Handball Player of the Year - Readers of ''World Handball Magazine'' and the

International Handball Federation The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball. IHF is responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the IHF World Men's Handball C ...

web site visitors. (Awarded in September 2008) * All-Star Team: World Championship 2007 - Best Left Back - (Awarded in December 2007) 2008 * Casparprisen - Gjøvik City (Awarded in August 2008) 2009 * ’Player of the Year’ voted by the Ikast-fans (Awarded in May 2009) 2010 * All-Star Team: European Championship 2010 - Best Playmaker - (Awarded in December 2010) * ’Team Player’ of the year, Norwegian Sports Gala (Awarded in January 2011)

Personal life

Hammerseng was in a long-term

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

relationship with fellow

and Norwegian national team player

Katja Nyberg Katja Johanna Alice Nyberg (born 24 August 1979) is a naturalized Norwegian handball player, currently retired. She played 99 games and scored 321 goals for the Norwegian national team during her career. With the Norwegian team she won a gold ...

. In August 2010, they announced that they had split up even though they would continue to play together for Larvi

Gro Hammerseng began a new relationship with Larvik teammate Anja Edin in the summer of 2010. They married in 2013. Hammerseng gave birth to their first son, Mio in 2012 and their second son, Leo in 2018. In 2014, Hammerseng and her wife published their book, ''Anja + Gro = Mio'', which is about having a child as a lesbian couple. In the lead-up to the

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, Hammerseng joined other Norwegian athletes in an

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

campaign for human rights in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Results

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

*Gold: 2008

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

*Silver: 2001, 2007 European Championship *Gold: 2004, 2006, 2010 *Silver: 2002

FC Midtjylland Håndbold FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

Danish Championship *Silver: 2007/08 *Bronze: 2003/04, 2004/05

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

(DM) *Silver: 2003, 2004

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

*Gold: 2003/04

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previ ...

*Silver: 2006/07

Larvik HK Larvik Håndballklubb, is a women's handball club from Larvik, Norway. History Larvik HK was founded in 1990 as a merger of the handball departments in the two clubs Larvik Turn and Halsen. They played in the top division since 1992/93. During ...

Norwegian League *Gold: 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17 Norwegian Cup (NM) *Gold: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 Norwegian Play-off *Gold: 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17 Champions League *Gold: 2010/11 *Silver: 2012/13, 2014/15

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammerseng, Gro 1980 births Living people Expatriate handball players Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Lesbian sportswomen Norwegian LGBT sportspeople LGBT handball players Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Norwegian female handball players Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic handball players of Norway Olympic medalists in handball Sportspeople from Gjøvik Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics